Interesting read over at the Economist (I’ve uncovered that I somehow have an online subscription…maybe everyone with a login and/or a former subscription does.   Always late to the party.).

My favorite part:

“For France, it is very difficult to accept,” says one French minister. “We have a tendency sometimes to treat Germany as if it should just accept our ideas, because that’s what France does. But that is over.” This means that French officials have to work out new ways of retaining their influence in Europe.

It’s been interesting to see how Ms. Merkel et al have been responding to its Eurozone issues.  The dynamic in the recent past has been that while they’re suggestions/intuition/actions may be right, they need to come off as not too right, or as the article puts it, being accused of unilateralism.  But as Germany’s policies break ahead of the pack in navigating through this eurozone & global recession, the country seems to have gained some well-deserved confidence.

Just a quick comment – it’s odd to feel such a patriotism with a country that I’m not a citizen of, nor spent more than a week in (not counting the 2 years I spent as an infant/pre-cognizance).

Anyone else have such a bias? Maybe in a previous life, I was German. Maybe that’s why I have such a need to “return.”